Management Dashboard tiles

Overview

The Management Dashboard is a grid of tiles, and every tile is an entry in the panels array of one of its four configuration files. Which file a tile belongs in decides where it appears:

This page is the reference for what those entries can contain. See Tile customization for locating and editing the files, and Configuration options for the settings that affect the whole interface rather than one tile. The Engineering and Security dashboards use an entirely different set of tiles - see Engineering tiles.

For what each tile shows an end user, see the Management Dashboard guide.

Areas

Each file holds an areas array, and each area is one section of the dashboard. An area takes an id, a title used as the section heading, and its panels:

Every tile takes these

The colour themes are blue, black, grey-dark, orange, green, purple, grey-light and yellow. Some tile examples also use light-red and red.

Position

Tiles are laid out left to right and top to bottom within their area, in the order they appear in the panels array. To move a tile, cut and paste its block higher or lower in the array: the earlier it appears, the earlier it is displayed.

Portfolio and application plugin names

Most plugins have two names, and using the wrong one gives you a tile that does not render:

• In cmp.json, the plural form - QualityIndicatorResults.
• In app.json, the singular form - QualityIndicatorResult.

A few plugins keep one name in both files, and a few work in only one of the two. The table in Plugin types gives the name to use for each.

Common plugin parameters

These appear across most plugins:

The scope parameter

scope filters a tile, and everything you reach by clicking it, down to the applications carrying one tag. Both sub-parameters are required:

"scope": { "category": "Vendors", "tag": "Vendor 1" }

Scoped tiles are how one dashboard serves several audiences: a Number of applications tile scoped to a vendor counts only that vendor’s applications. See Tags and categories for defining the categories and tags themselves.

scope is accepted by PortfolioListing, QualityIndicatorResults, QualityIndicatorEvolution, SizingMeasureResults, SizingMeasureEvolution, BackgroundFactsResults, BackgroundFactsEvolution, CustomExpressions and CustomExpressionsEvolution.

Indicator ids

Wherever a plugin takes a qualityIndicator, sizingMeasure, functionalWeightMeasure or backgroundFact, the object takes an id, a format and an optional description. The id may be one of the named constants below, or the numerical id of any CAST Imaging Core metric - 10151 for Lines of Code, 66031 for Programming Practices, and so on.

A qualityIndicator may also carry two parameters of its own:

At portfolio level only, sizingMeasure also accepts the function point measures: AUTOMATED_IFPUG_FUNCTION_POINTS_ESTIMATION, UNADJUSTED_DATA_FUNCTION_POINTS, UNADJUSTED_TRANSACTIONAL_FUNCTION_POINTS, and the ADDED_, MODIFIED_, DELETED_ and UNCHANGED_ variants of FUNCTION_POINTS, DATA_FUNCTION_POINTS and TRANSACTIONAL_FUNCTION_POINTS.

Grade colouring and labels

A QualityIndicatorResults block at the top level of the file sets the defaults for every grade-based tile. Configuration options covers ranges; the rest of the block is:

gradeLabels keys must match the ranges values:

"ranges": [1.6, 2.4, 3.0, 3.4],
"gradeLabels": { "1.6": "Poor", "2.4": "Average", "3.0": "Good", "3.4": "Excellent" }

An individual tile can override any of this in its own details block.

The ISO-5055 views

The two ISO files are complete layouts, not a four-tile overlay on the default view, and they are narrower than the files they replace. Both drop the Notification Quick Facts tile, app-ISO.json has no Automated Enhancement Point area and no Top Critical Rules tile, and cmp-ISO.json carries no defaultView key.

What they do configure:

The four characteristic ids are 1061003 Reliability, 1061004 Security, 1061002 Performance-Efficiency and 1061001 Maintainability, each with indexID 1061000. The ranking tiles count TOTAL_VIOLATIONS rather than CRITICAL_VIOLATIONS.

Plugin types

PortfolioListing

Counts the applications in the portfolio. Portfolio level only. Takes title, and scope to count only one tag’s applications.

{ "id": 20150818, "plugin": "PortfolioListing", "color": "grey-dark",
  "parameters": { "title": "Number of applications" } }

QualityIndicatorResults

A single Health Measure grade. Takes a qualityIndicator and a widget:

technicalId names a parent technical criterion, which the tile then displays alongside the measure. details overrides the global ranges, colors and riskGauge for this tile alone, and icon: true puts an icon beside the title.

{ "id": 5, "plugin": "QualityIndicatorResults", "color": "yellow",
  "parameters": { "title": "Robustness", "widget": "gauge",
                  "qualityIndicator": { "id": "ROBUSTNESS", "format": "0.00" } } }

SizingMeasureResults

A size or violation count. Takes a sizingMeasure, and mode to decide how much the tile carries.

{ "id": 12, "plugin": "SizingMeasureResults", "color": "orange",
  "parameters": { "title": "Critical violations", "mode": "terse",
                  "sizingMeasure": { "id": "CRITICAL_VIOLATIONS", "format": "0,000" } } }

FunctionalWeightMeasureResults

Functional and enhancement size. Takes a functionalWeightMeasure in place of a sizingMeasure.

{ "id": 1999, "plugin": "FunctionalWeightMeasureResult", "color": "blue",
  "parameters": { "title": "Functional & Enhancement Size",
                  "functionalWeightMeasure": { "id": "AUTOMATED_IFPUG_FUNCTION_POINTS_ESTIMATION",
                                               "format": "0,000",
                                               "description": "OMG-Compliant Automated FPs" } } }

The Automated Enhancement Point area uses the same plugin with an AEP id. Drilling down lists the applications excluded from the measure, which is to say those without an EFP license.

QualityIndicatorBySizingMeasureResults

Plots a grade against a size. Takes both a qualityIndicator and a sizingMeasure, and a type:

treemapColors sets the palette, as a ranges array and a matching colors array of the same length. Either measure object may also carry a tooltipFormat for the figure shown on hover.

{ "id": 3, "plugin": "QualityIndicatorBySizingMeasureResults", "size": "large", "color": "purple",
  "parameters": { "type": "treemap", "title": "Applications Map", "order": "descending",
    "qualityIndicator": { "id": "TQI", "format": "0.00", "description": "Total Quality Index" },
    "sizingMeasure": { "id": "LINES_OF_CODE", "format": "0,000.0a", "description": "Lines of Code" },
    "treemapColors": { "ranges": [1, 2, 3, 4],
                       "colors": ["#ff3600", "#ff0242", "#fbbb6e", "#3dc680"] } } }

CriticalViolationsPerHealthFactor

Ranks applications, modules or technologies by critical violations against one Health Measure. Takes type: "topRiskiest", a qualityIndicator, usually a sizingMeasure, and count.

mode decides what the figure is: grade for 1 to 4, violations for a count, or compliance for a percentage. In app.json, scattering: "technologies" ranks technologies instead of modules, which is how the Technologies Overview tile is built.

{ "id": 10, "plugin": "CriticalViolationsPerHealthFactor", "color": "green", "size": "large",
  "parameters": { "type": "topRiskiest", "title": "Top 5 riskiest Applications",
    "count": 5, "order": "descending",
    "qualityIndicator": { "id": "EFFICIENCY", "format": "0.00", "description": "Efficiency" },
    "sizingMeasure": { "id": "CRITICAL_VIOLATIONS", "format": "0,000a",
                       "description": "Critical Violations" } } }

CriticalQualityRulesRatios

The top critical rules, with a Checked column counting the objects the rule examined and a Failed column counting or scoring those that violate it.

{ "id": 14, "plugin": "CriticalQualityRulesRatios", "size": "large", "color": "grey-dark",
  "parameters": { "limit": 100, "title": "Top 5 critical rules", "count": 5,
                  "order": "descending", "format": "0,000", "mode": "ratio" } }

DetailView

The shipped app.json builds its Top Critical Rules tile with DetailView and type: "topRules", taking the same count, order, format and mode parameters as CriticalQualityRulesRatios.

{ "id": 107, "plugin": "DetailView", "color": "grey-dark", "size": "large",
  "parameters": { "type": "topRules", "title": "Top Critical Rules", "count": 5,
                  "format": "0,000", "order": "descending", "mode": "ratio" } }

A DetailView block at the top level of app.json separately sets the treemapColors used by drill-down treemaps.

QualityIndicatorEvolution

A Health Measure over the selected period. Takes a qualityIndicator, a widget of number, line or spline, and optionally mode as grade, violations or compliance.

number prints the variation as a figure; line joins snapshots with straight segments and spline smooths them.

SizingMeasureEvolution

The same, for a sizingMeasure. Takes the same widget values.

{ "id": 101, "plugin": "SizingMeasureEvolution", "color": "orange",
  "parameters": { "widget": "spline", "title": "Critical violations",
                  "sizingMeasure": { "id": "CRITICAL_VIOLATIONS", "format": "0,000" } } }

Notification

The Quick Facts tile. Portfolio level only. notifications is an array, each entry a type:

{ "id": 1000, "plugin": "Notification", "color": "blue", "size": "large",
  "parameters": { "title": "Applications Fast Facts",
    "notifications": [
      { "type": "analysisSince" },
      { "type": "addedCount" },
      { "type": "sizingMeasureEvolution", "threshold": 0.01, "trend": "increase",
        "sizingMeasure": { "id": "CRITICAL_VIOLATIONS", "format": "0",
                           "description": "critical violations" } } ] } }

IndustryStandards

A grade, violation count or compliance percentage for one industry standard. Takes a type of CISQ, MIPS, ISO-5055, OWASP-2013 or OWASP-2017, a widget where the mode is grade, and an industryStandard object:

Data comes from the CISQ Index, MIPS Reduction Index, ISO-5055 Index and OWASP Index extensions, which must be installed before the snapshot is generated.

{ "id": 1234, "plugin": "IndustryStandards", "color": "black",
  "parameters": { "type": "CISQ", "title": "CISQ-Security Index", "widget": "gauge",
    "industryStandard": { "id": "1062166", "indexID": "1062100", "mode": "grade",
                          "format": "0.00" } } }

QualityStandards

Counts violations of the rules carrying one tag. Takes a qualityStandards object of id, format and description. The same configuration works at both levels.

The Top Priority tile is this plugin pointed at the AIP-TOP-PRIORITY tag, and is no longer supplied out of the box:

{ "id": 213, "plugin": "QualityStandards", "color": "light-red",
  "parameters": { "title": "Top Priority",
    "qualityStandards": { "id": "AIP-TOP-PRIORITY", "format": "0,000",
                          "description": "Violations" } } }

Point id at any other quality standard tag, or at a custom tag of your own, to get a tile for it. Clicking through lists the rules carrying the tag.

BackgroundFactsResults

One Background Fact metric, uploaded during snapshot generation. Takes a backgroundFact object, plus:

The aggregation choice matters more than it looks. With a cost of 400 recorded against one of two applications, sum reports 400 at portfolio level and 0 for the application with no value, while average reports 200 in both places.

{ "id": 66002, "plugin": "BackgroundFactsResults", "color": "green",
  "parameters": { "title": "Cost", "aggregation": "sum",
                  "url": "http://www.castsoftware.com",
                  "backgroundFact": { "id": "66002", "format": "0.0",
                                      "description": "Total cost value" } } }

BackgroundFactsEvolution

The same metric over time. Takes backgroundFact, aggregation, a widget of number, line or spline, and selectedApplicationCount for how many applications the drill-down plots by default at portfolio level.

BackgroundFactAndQualityIndicatoryBySizingMeasureResults

A bubble chart carrying three measures at once: a qualityIndicator on the x axis, a backgroundFact on the y axis, and a sizingMeasure as the bubble size. Portfolio level only, and not present in any shipped file.

chartSettings passes options through to the charting library. xAxis and yAxis each accept plotLines, marking a value with a labelled line, and plotBands, shading a from and to interval.

{ "id": 10203, "plugin": "BackgroundFactAndQualityIndicatoryBySizingMeasureResults",
  "color": "purple",
  "parameters": { "title": "Lines of Code - Effort", "order": "descending",
    "qualityIndicator": { "id": "TQI", "format": "0.00", "description": "TQI" },
    "sizingMeasure": { "id": "LINES_OF_CODE", "format": "0,000a" },
    "backgroundFact": { "id": "EFFORT", "format": "0.00", "description": "Effort" },
    "chartSettings": { "xAxis": { "plotLines": [ { "value": 3,
                                                   "label": { "text": "TQI=3" } } ] } } } }

ExternalLink

A tile that leads somewhere outside the dashboard. Takes title and url.

{ "id": 100, "plugin": "ExternalLink", "color": "red",
  "parameters": { "title": "Tackle your Technical Debt",
                  "url": "http://www.castsoftware.com" } }

ExternalLinkWithImage

The same, with a background image in place of a plain colour. Adds imageUrl.

Custom expression tiles

CustomExpressions computes a value from other measures instead of reading one directly, which covers the indicators that are ratios: violations per thousand lines, cost per function point, and so on. CustomExpressionsEvolution does the same across snapshots.

{ "id": 987654321529, "plugin": "CustomExpressions", "color": "blue",
  "parameters": { "title": "TQI - Critical violations ratio", "format": "0.00",
    "expression": "crit / tqi",
    "variables": { "tqi": { "type": "qualityIndicator", "id": "TQI" },
                   "crit": { "type": "sizingMeasure", "id": "CRITICAL_VIOLATIONS" } } } }

With aggregator set to AvgSum, each variable may carry its own aggregator of sum or average. That is what lets a portfolio ratio be totalled before it is divided, giving the sum of all violations over the sum of all function points rather than an average of per-application ratios.

Operators

Functions

Expressions that return anything other than a number, a boolean for instance, are not rendered.